Reading while lounging next to bodies of water is so popular it spawned a whole literary genre. But here's the thing about beach reads: There's a very real chance you'll ruin the book if you get it wet.
Two hotels in Key West, Florida, have devised a clever solution to this perennial vacation problem: waterproof books.
The new "underwater library" is an aquarium tank stocked with fully submerged classics printed on water- and tear-resistant synthetic paper made with polypropylene by a company called Bibliobath.
The lit-filled tank sits between the Gates Hotel and 24 North Hotel, both of which are part of the Keys Collection and are located in Key West's New Town.
(The Keys Collection)
Authors represented include William Shakespeare, W.B. Yeats, and Mark Twain—in other words, writers whose works have entered the public domain and therefore require no special permissions to reproduce.
Guests of either property can borrow volumes. And if the book gets dropped into the pool or accidentally squirted with a glob of sunscreen or temporarily abandoned to the elements in a sudden downpour, you won't have to return the book all warped or stained or fanned out like an accordion. It'll be as good as new.
(The Keys Collection)
Maybe you didn't need to spring for that waterproof Kindle after all.
